Virus/Windows/Software RAAAAGGGGEEEE

[CrimsomWolf]

Crimsom rants, part 1:

There's nothing better than after week of doing nothing, then going on your beloved computer, to install the game you pre-ordered last month.

Except you can't, because 1000 adverts will pop-up, blocking it.
Adverts about computer security, lunched with assistance of that bloody Explorer.

Annoying as hell. And of course, all of them were viruses. I won't go into details, but me and my father had to almost nuke the computer to get rid off all that crap. (no, there weren't 1000 viruses. Rather 1000 virus adds + some crap Explorer thought was neccesary to install).

After that, all was well? No, it wasn't.
Because now, Every-time I turn on some of my games (because I'm not sure if this applies to all of them) after a short while, computer minimalizes them and shoves me into the desktop - i.e It doesn't turn off the game, just shoves me into desktop, and I have to bring it up again. It's not particulary serious, but very, very fucking annoying. Especially in middle of battle.

I initially thought that it was a worm, but neither virus scan I did showed any worms. My father still thinks that it's a virus, but now I think that it might be an unspecified software thingy... maybe it's something with the Steam (which I had to install to play my Empire: Total War) or graphic card - since this problem applies so far only to games: perhaps those bloody drivers.


Fucking, God-dammned bloody Hell, can this thing ever end?
Or maybe, it's nature's way of telling me that my three-year old computer needs to go.

Great thing to learn after really screwed week.

RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEE.

Now excuse me, as I'll go away to vent my frustration on some poor, cuddly creatures.

[beatrixkiddo]

Ever used Ad-Aware? Or Spybot search and destroy?

[CrimsomWolf]

No, don't think so.

[beatrixkiddo]

Then use em

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

[CrimsomWolf]

Many Thanks.

Will do after I get home (I'm stuck at school right now).

[Magus_84]

What type of video card do you have? I had that "randomly minimizes games" problem before, though mine was also coupled with a "screen freezes and have to restart" problem.

It went away when I switched video cards.

[CrimsomWolf]

It's GeForce 8600 GTS I believe.

I actually wanted to change it to 8800 at some point, but the computer was physically too small for it (it's not very big, so inside in packed thighter than flats in Tokyo- we would have to cut out a lot of cables that were rather essential for computer if we were to fit it in).

[MetaZedlen]

Well, if you plan on getting a new computer anytime soon (and if you don't like ATi), I would recommend getting a 9800 series card from NVidia, fair price and good performance.

[Kent]

Re-installing the OS is a great way to clean a bunch of crap out of your computer.

Naturally, a lot of games will have to be reinstalled as well, but getting a fresh start on keeping the viruses, adware, malware, etc. out of your system can be quite handy.

Also: I'm pretty sure it wasn't Explorer who thought it was necessary to install anything, 'cause it generally... doesn't install things. As it turns out, it takes user action to install things in basically all cases, unless it sneaks in through some backdoor that someone/thing left open.

[CrimsomWolf]

So, I tried a lot yesterday (including Ad-Aware), but apperantly there's still *something there*

I've been thinking about reinstalling OS recently anyway - I have a spare carrier for data (kinda like a massive pen-drive - 75GB) so I can transfer my more important data (essays, anime, music...) and then wipe out everything.

The fresh start would free-up a lot of things, and spare me of having to go through a mass of un-install programs...

On side note:
- Funny thing is we can't download any updates for Windows. It can't display the page, or some option neccesary for them to upload suddenly turns off.

[MetaZedlen]

Yea, you really should just reformat, it will save you a lot of time instead of screwing around with a bunch of shit that might just come back if you didn't delete in the right way...

Also, if you can get to another computer, I would recommend getting all of your computer's drivers first, so then when you get the fresh OS, you can just reinstall everything right from the start :D (unless you already have everything...)

[CrimsomWolf]

It would seem that the problem was, at least for now removed.

However, all anti-virus softwares my dad thought was neccesary to upload block my every move - including accesing PSO-W.

Kinda ludicirous, especially if I can access it everywhere else (including school computers)....

We'll see how it goes from here, but I'm still leaning towards system reformat.

[Kion]

I managed a pretty good system on my sony laptop. It came with two hard disks on it. I kept everything long term installed on the D drive and just windows on the C drive. (you can also do this by partitioning) everyonce and a while when it feels like my computer is slowing down, i nuke (reformat) the C drive, turn off all of the crap i dont use on mscofig when it comes back up and my computer consistantly runs really fast and all of my files intact.

[Sekani]

Malware has a habit of modifying certain registry settings that can cause a bit of annoyance, such as preventing you from changing your desktop background or using an external drive. Anti-virus programs usually don't catch these things, so you may have to do a little manual research to fully clean things out.

Or, just reformat, after backing up all your important non-Windows files.

[CrimsomWolf]

I just reformated it.

So, crisis finished.
And I got to change my wallpaper... and got my 110 GB back...

Gotta look for positives, right?